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Reuters Canada Business Summary

25/08/08

Oil rises above $115 after steep slide

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose above $115 a barrel on Monday as some investors saw buying opportunities after prices posted the biggest one-day slide in percentage terms since 2004 in the previous session. Analysts said tensions between the West and Russia over Georgia would lend prices support. Moscow's military intervention in Georgia has disrupted some shipments of Azeri oil through Georgia.

Precision Drilling to buy peer Grey Wolf

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Canada's Precision Drilling Trust will buy U.S. driller Grey Wolf Inc for US$2 billion in cash and stock, creating one of the largest North American oil and gas rig operators, the companies said on Monday. Precision Drilling, Canada's largest oil and gas driller, will pay US$5 in cash and 0.1883 newly issued Precision trust units for each Grey Wolf common share.

Maple Leaf expects meat recall to cost C$20 mln

TORONTO (Reuters) - Maple Leaf Foods Inc said on Sunday it expects a direct cost of about C$20 million ($19 million) from a recall of contaminated meat linked to an outbreak of food poisoning that has killed at least four people in Canada. Health authorities said on Saturday genetic tests had determined that a Toronto plant operated by Maple Leaf was the source of meat contaminated with listeria bacteria.

No smooth road to trust conversions

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Two cases, coming in less than a week, show that investors need to be wary as Canada's income trusts, with their tax breaks set to end, convert themselves back into corporations. The tax breaks ceded to trusts, which distribute most of their cash to unitholders, are to expire 2011.

Fed cuts growth forecast due to global woes

OTTAWA/TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's government has slashed its forecast for economic growth in 2008 to 1.1 percent from 1.7 percent, citing global economic woes it said were beyond its control. "We are feeling the impacts of global economic factors beyond the control of any one individual or government," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in his department's fiscal update on Friday, which also noted that Ottawa returned to a budget surplus in June.

Buffett says has no "buy order" on oil sands firms

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Warren Buffett toured Canada's oil sands with his friend Bill Gates this week to understand how the resources are developed, but the billionaire investor said on Friday he had no plan to buy into the sector. In an interview on CNBC television, Buffett said he and the Microsoft co-founder discussed their interest in the oil sands a few months ago, and agreed they would get a better education with a first-hand look than just reading about it.

Derivatives flagged as Canadian regulatory issue

TORONTO (Reuters) - A large institutional investor and Canada's central bank suggest that Canadian securities rules may need to be broadened to deal with derivative instruments. In submissions to an advisory panel on securities regulation, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which manages more than C$100 billion in assets, and the Bank of Canada each lauded the new Derivatives Act in the province of Quebec, which was passed in June.

RBC may reach ARS deal with regulators: report

TORONTO (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada is in settlement talks with U.S. regulators over its role in the troubled U.S. auction-rate securities market, the Globe and Mail newspaper said on Friday. The move may result in the bank buying back some of the investments from retail clients, the paper said.

Toronto stocks set for mixed open on commodities

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index is set for a soft open on Monday, as mixed commodity prices may send the market on a see-saw course, while a $2 billion merger involving Precision Drilling Trust could provide some direction. The heavyweight energy sector could get a boost as oil steadied above $115 a barrel after falling more than 5 percent on Friday, the biggest one-day drop since 2004, on rising supply from OPEC, weakening global demand and a rebound in the U.S. dollar.

Canada dollar falls as oil prices ease, bonds drop

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar ended lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, given a weaker commodity price backdrop, but the big gains it made on Thursday were enough to allow it to close higher for the week. Domestic bond prices, with no economic data to trigger a move, finished lower across the curve alongside the bigger U.S. Treasury market as U.S. stocks rose sharply.

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